As a young person, I used to read the biographies of missionaries such as Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, or Bruce Olson and imagine one day living just as radical a life for Jesus as they did.
I wanted to die telling others about Jesus.
To me, it seemed as though it was simply a matter of deciding early on to live radically for Jesus…and eventually I would.
But years went by and not only was I not doing anything magnificent with my life, I was struggling with some pretty basic stuff. Lust, fear, comparison–these sins too frequently surfaced in my heart.
I lacked a sense of direction, and in many ways felt like I was just floating through life; doing good, Christian things without any true Christian fervor.
Sometimes we might think that if we do something long enough, it will become real in our hearts.
Pray often enough, and you will become a person of prayer.
Worship frequently enough and you will become a person of worship.
Resist the devil, tell others about Jesus, and serve those around you and eventually you will feel a love and excitement for Jesus that you sensed in the biographies of missionaries who gave their lives in radical ways.
What we often miss is that as good and necessary as prayer, worship, resistance, evangelism, and service are, if they do not come from having witnessed God face-to-face, they are only activities that will eventually burn you out.
We live in an era where people are stressed out, anxious, lonely, and lacking a real sense of purpose. While we often say that Jesus gives us purpose, we don’t often see how that fleshes itself out in everyday life.
“Is there purpose in my 9-5 job?”
“How is sitting through a 2-hour church service every week helping me live more radically for God?”
We feel an increasing distinction between the sacred and secular aspects of our everyday lives. We know there actually is no distinction between the sacred and secular, but instead of seeing everything as sacred, we increasingly see everything as secular.
The more we see the world through secular eyes, the less we see God’s hand in it all. The less we see God’s hand, the more mediocre our lives will continue to feel.
I would still love to die telling others about Jesus, but my goal is no longer to do “radical things” for Jesus.
When you think about it, that’s actually an extremely self-centered goal.
I have begun to experience greater purpose and excitement for Jesus not from doing something over and over again, but from simply more fully discovering Jesus Himself.
“What’s the Big Deal about the Head Covering?”
The tradition of men not covering their heads and women covering their heads serve as signs for remembering and showing honor of each other’s place in Christ, which helps us walk in unity.
My life as a Christian feels mediocre when I’m not seeing clearly how my story is a part of His. As long as I see my story and His story as two distinctly separate histories, I will spend my energy trying to make the two converge in some phenomenal way.
What’s really revolutionizing is discovering that my story and His story have been the same story from the very beginning.
I don’t have to do anything special to have a more radical encounter. The most radical thing I can do is live every day conscious of the fact that He is with me. Every piece of my daily life is an opportunity to extend the story of Jesus further and further into history.
The Christian’s life and the unbeliever’s life really aren’t that much different. We are plagued by the same temptations, face very similar problems, and have very similar needs.
The difference between the two is that the Christian understands the place the Messiah has in helping him live into who he was designed to be all along.
And who is the Christian designed to be?
He is designed to be an image bearer of God in everyday life.
No doubt you are quite familiar with that term. Do you know what it means?
Do you understand how it impacts your life?
I’ve been running a little series the last couple of weeks specifically looking at how we bear God’s image when we are such fallen, broken creatures.
As Christians, we can too easily talk as if we are somehow exempt from all the problems other people have. We talk as if we are special in some way. The problem is that most of us don’t feel special.
So when we are personally struggling with habitual sin or inner anxiety and depression, we assume others who appear more victorious and joyful don’t experience the same struggles. We begin questioning God. Our lives are not measuring up to what we expected from a life as a Christian.
But the problem isn’t God. The problem is how we understood the story.
If the story of Jesus was simply about how we don’t have to go to hell, but can instead go to heaven even though we sinned, then why doesn’t God just take us to heaven right away? Why did He even allow the opportunity for mankind to sin in the first place?
What’s the point of this earth if it’s all going to burn up one day?
Perhaps we have misunderstood the story.
Perhaps we have taken on–if but unknowingly–a fatalistic mindset. Maybe we failed to see how our stories, today in July of 2022, play a specific role in God’s overarching story.
The story of Jesus isn’t just about you escaping hell and going to heaven. The story of Jesus is about you being brought into God’s covenant people who again image Him in creation.
If you would like to understand more about this, I invite you to watch the video below:
How is your life as a Christian? Does it feel mediocre?
What sorts of problems do you face on a daily basis? Are you able to find direction for navigating them in Scripture? Or does it feel like you have to look somewhere else? You can share how things are going for you in the comments below.
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